Director of Colleague Enablement & Readiness

The Colleague Enablement Director is a highly influential strategic leader responsible for ensuring Retail and Private Client colleagues and leaders are ready, capable and confident to execute evolving business priorities. This leader owns the colleague enablement strategy and operating model that translates business priorities, transformation and change into capabilities, tools and experiences colleagues need to execute effectively.

Working in close partnership with the teams that own sales strategy, field execution, communications, talent and learning infrastructure, business owners define what the field must do and why; this leader owns how colleagues learn it, adopt it and sustain it. The Director sets the vision and roadmap for colleague enablement, determines how colleague-facing priorities are sequenced against field capacity and readiness, and establishes the standards used to determine whether the organization is prepared for significant change.

As the banking landscape continues to evolve, this leader will connect strategy to frontline execution, ensuring change is not simply communicated or launched, but successfully adopted, reinforced, measured and ultimately embedded into the way colleagues serve customers and operate the business every day.

Primary responsibilities include

Enablement Strategy, Portfolio and Capacity

• Set and lead the colleague enablement strategy for Branch Distribution across sales and service, operations, digital capabilities and leadership development, translating evolving business priorities into coordinated strategies for Retail and Private Client colleagues.

• Own the intake and prioritization process for colleague-facing initiatives, assessing business need, scope, risk, urgency and organizational capacity to determine what should move forward, be deferred or redirected.

• Build and manage the enablement roadmap, thoughtfully sequencing initiatives against field capacity, competing priorities and other change already underway.

• Anticipate demand, allocate team resources and identify trade-offs or capacity constraints that require leadership decisions.

• Use adoption, effectiveness and outcome insights to determine which enablement solutions should be strengthened, scaled, redesigned or retired.

Readiness and Change Adoption

• Own readiness standards and readiness gating for significant enterprise initiatives, product and process changes, technology releases, and NEXT role and routine changes.

• Assess audience impact, leader preparedness, dependencies and launch risk, providing clear go, conditional-go or defer recommendations based on organizational readiness.

• Lead change enablement across the full lifecycle, from initial readiness and launch through adoption, reinforcement and sustainment.

• Develop sustainment strategies with field leaders that reinforce desired behaviors and capabilities, measure whether change is taking hold and ultimately embed successful practices into ongoing business routines.

• Maintain a strong connection to the field to understand how change is experienced by colleagues and customers and use those insights to shape readiness strategies and solutions.

Onboarding and Ongoing Development

• Own role-based onboarding journeys for Retail and Private Client colleagues, building the knowledge, skills and confidence required to progress from initial onboarding to independent proficiency.

• Lead the design and evolution of role curricula, skill maps, learning pathways, practice opportunities, assessments and proficiency measures.

• Establish ongoing and advanced development programs, including refreshers, leader development and career-readiness initiatives.

• Strengthen frontline capability to deliver consultative, advice-led customer experiences that build deeper relationships and respond to evolving customer needs.

• Partner with business and subject-matter experts to ensure development programs reflect current sales and service processes, customer value propositions and evolving business priorities.

Content, Playbooks and Knowledge Management

• Translate business priorities into practical, intuitive playbooks, DILOs, job aids, process guides, conversation guides and leader coaching tools that help colleagues successfully execute in the field.

• Engage business owners early in solution design, bringing a strategic point of view and ensuring enablement addresses the broader business objective rather than simply responding to individual requests.

• Establish standards and governance for the full enablement-content lifecycle, including accuracy, review, version control, expiration and retirement.

• Own the knowledge architecture for colleague enablement so colleagues and leaders can quickly locate current, accurate and relevant guidance.

• Connect individual tools and materials to the broader enablement strategy, creating a cohesive colleague experience rather than a collection of stand-alone resources.

Measurement and Continuous Improvement

• Define and monitor meaningful measures of enablement effectiveness, including completion, adoption, usage, time to proficiency and connections to business and performance outcomes.

• Use field feedback, inspection findings and performance insights to identify systemic capability gaps and continuously improve enablement strategies and solutions.

• Assess whether new behaviors and capabilities are being sustained beyond initial implementation rather than measuring success solely by completion or launch.

• Apply evidence and business outcomes to determine where additional reinforcement is needed and when an enablement initiative has become sufficiently embedded into normal business routines.

Partnership and Leadership

• Serve as a strategic partner and thought leader across Branch Distribution, HR, Learning & Development, Product, Marketing, Operations, Technology, Risk/Compliance and other key functions, building alignment and influencing outcomes across a highly matrixed organization.

• Partner with NEXT on talent and role changes, owning the colleague readiness, adoption and sustainment required to successfully implement the changes NEXT designs.

• Work closely with the teams responsible for sales strategy, field execution, communications, talent and learning infrastructure, maintaining clear accountability for how business priorities are translated into colleague capability and readiness.

• Bring an informed point of view to business priorities, constructively challenging requests when necessary and helping partners consider timing, readiness, field capacity and alignment with the broader enablement roadmap.

• Lead, develop and retain a high-performing Colleague Enablement team, expanding its capabilities beyond content creation and request fulfillment toward strategic consulting, change enablement, facilitation and measurable business impact.

Qualifications, Education, Certifications and/or Other Professional Credentials

• Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.

  • Significant progressive experience in Retail or Consumer Banking, with a strong understanding of branch distribution and experience supporting a large, geographically dispersed frontline workforce. 

  • Strong background in sales and service enablement, colleague enablement, change management, or a related discipline. 

  • Proven success leading complex enablement initiatives, including portfolio management, intake, prioritization, and capacity planning. 

  • Demonstrated ability to design onboarding and role-based development programs that build colleague capability and accelerate proficiency. 

  • Skilled in leading readiness and adoption for significant product, process, technology, or role changes within a regulated environment. 

  • Strategic thinker with the business acumen to connect immediate needs with broader organizational priorities, evaluate trade-offs, and challenge priorities when appropriate. 

  • Strong executive presence and demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners in a highly matrixed organization.

  • Ability to translate complex business strategies into practical solutions, including playbooks, job aids, learning resources, and other colleague-facing tools. 

  • Data-driven approach to measuring readiness, adoption, effectiveness, and sustainment and using insights to continuously improve enablement strategies.

  • People leader with a track record of developing talent, building team capability, and creating a high-performing environment. 

  • Excellent communication, relationship-building, judgment, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.

• Preferred Qualifications

  • Familiarity with licensed sales environments (e.g., FINRA-registered roles) and associated onboarding requirements.

  • Experience with Salesforce and enterprise learning or knowledge platforms.

  • Experience partnering with a transformation office on large-scale operating-model or role change.

  • Facilitation and coaching skills; change-management certification a plus.

  • Deep familiarity with consultative, advice-led sales and service models within consumer financial services. 

  • Skilled at bringing learning, communications, tools, leadership reinforcement and field engagement together into a cohesive enablement strategy. 

  • A track record of helping enablement teams evolve beyond content creation and request fulfillment to become proactive, strategic partners to the business.

     

Hours & Work Schedule

• Hours per Week: 40 

• Work Schedule: 8 AM – 5 PM

Pay Transparency

• The salary range for this position is $142,000 - $185,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to the budget, work location, and relevant skills and experience.

• We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens’ paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time-away policy of every local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits.

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Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.

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